Will back Modi for PM’s post, Shiromani Akali Dal says

Feb 12, 2013, 04.24AM ISTTNN[ Rohan Dua ]

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Monday took on J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah for asking for hanging of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh's assassin Balwant Singh Rajoana, saying that his party stands by the line that his execution would cause unrest in Punjab.

CHANDIGARH: SAD general secretary Chandumajra on Monday remarked that the Congress has become fearful of Gujarat CM Narendra Modi's appeal as a national leader, prompting it to take a "remedial action" to hang Afzal Guru.

"The decision to hang Guru was a political move by the Congress. They fear Narendra Modi's growing popularity in the masses" he said

The senior SAD stalwart also said that his party would support the BJP if they chose Modi as the prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

SAD slams Omar, defends Rajoana clemency demand

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Monday took on J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah for asking for hanging of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh's assassin Balwant Singh Rajoana, saying that his party stands by the line that his execution would cause unrest in Punjab.

On Monday, breaking his party's silence over the clamour over former Punjab CM Beant Singh's assassin following Afzal Guru's hanging, SAD general secretary Prem Singh Chandumajra asserted that the Badal-led Punjab government would continue defending the commuting of death-row convict Balwant Singh Rajoana's execution.

"We have earlier said that the party is against capital punishment. Second, there are legal infirmities related to Rajoana," Chandumajra told TOI.

Chandumajra slammed Omar for asking the UPA government to treat Rajaona's case on similar merit as Guru's and not being selective in executing those convicted of attacking symbols of democracy.

"Omar Abdullah should not speak out of turn. There's no doubt that the decision to hang Guru was political. It's better if he restricts his political comments to his state. Nobody wants to know his suggestions on law and order in Punjab," he remarked.

Omar Abdullah had questioned the government on why it is not in a hurry to carry out the execution of killers of Beant Singh and Rajiv Gandhi like in the case of Guru.

Chandumajra further defended SAD's asking for mercy for Rajoana - though the BKI terrorist has himself refused to plead for mercy -- saying it was only to avoid any possibility of community clashes in the state.

SAD president and Punjab deputy CM Sukhbir Badal, who has been avoiding questions on Rajoana, remained unavailable for any comment and ducked queries from reporters during his rallies in Moga.

Two days before his scheduled execution last year on March 31, a rattled Punjab CM Parkash Badal and his son Sukhbir had rushed to Delhi to President Pratibha Patil with mercy petition for Rajoana. While claiming that the mercy appeal was by the religious party Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee, the father-son duo had cited "maintaining peace and communal harmony" as reasons in the petition to the President. Rajoana was due to be hanged on March 31 in 2012.

He was awarded death sentence by a Central Bureau of Investigation special court July 2007 along with another terrorist, Jagtar Singh Hawara, in the Beant Singh assassination case.